Carrie Talbott Carrie Talbott

Jesus Follower | Word Stringer | Avocado Eater

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  • Clutter,  Declutter & Organize,  Thanksgiving

    Fantastic Fall Fling: How to Get Rid of Excess Items Before the Holidays!

    October 13, 2023 / 4 Comments

    If you’re anything like our family, Thanksgiving and Christmas mean lots of food and people. Before that happens this year, wouldn’t a little more space be nice? It’s okay if you have a compact home—the key is getting rid of items you don’t need or like in order to make space for the things you love! For example… Last year I opened my fall decor bin and found a couple things I didn’t like. The mistake I made? Putting them back in the bin. If I didn’t love them last year enough to bring them out, what makes me think I’m going to love them this year? Now I’m doing…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    Spring Decluttering with an Organizing Pro: 20 Items You Can Quickly Donate or Toss This Weekend

    May 13, 2022

    8 Simple Things We Can All Declutter and Donate Before Spring Cleaning Our Homes This Year

    February 24, 2023

    I Decluttered and Broke Up With 500 Things. You Can Do It Too!

    April 29, 2017
  • Organizing,  Recommendations,  Road trip,  Vacation

    Three Summer Vacation Hacks to be More Organized: How to Pack Smart, Move In, & Return Happy

    June 30, 2023 / No Comments

    Happy Summer, Friend! I hope you get to go somewhere fun in the next couple months. Even if it’s not tropical or bougie, just getting out of your normal routine is great for your sanity. Throw in some yummy restaurants and forced family bonding, and you’ll definitely be coming back as a happier version of yourself. I mean, as long as your airline doesn’t lose your luggage, you don’t win a lifetime supply of mosquito bites, and nobody barfs on day two. That would obviously put a damper on the whole point of dropping hard-earned pesos on a getaway. Moving along…. Here are three hacks for preparing, living, and returning…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    Spring Decluttering with an Organizing Pro: 20 Items You Can Quickly Donate or Toss This Weekend

    May 13, 2022

    Creating an Organized New Year: The 3 Best Places in Your Home & How to Start

    January 7, 2022

    Quickly Saving Drowning Memories, One Wet Photo at a Time

    April 30, 2021
  • Mother's Day,  Organizing,  Recommendations

    7 of My Favorite Amazon Products to Organize Your Home, Car, and Backyard

    April 28, 2023 / 8 Comments

    Ready to get organized before summer? As a slightly Type-A woman with an organizing business, I can tell you firsthand… the products you use to get yourself organized matter. From your kitchen, closet, and car, to your bathroom and backyard… I gotcha covered with some of my favorite products. The reviews are in, and these organizers take the cake! Kitchen LOPASA Ziplock Bag Organizer for Drawers or Wall Oh my gosh… where has this been all my life? In your drawer or attached to your pantry wall, this bamboo beauty keeps all your plastic bags organized in one spot. Need something larger to hold your plastic wrap and tinfoil, too? Take…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    Fun Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

    May 1, 2020

    A Unique Mother’s Day Gift Guide for all the Young Moms, Busy Ladies, and Older Women

    May 3, 2022
  • Chores,  Clutter,  Organizing,  Spring Cleaning

    8 Simple Things We Can All Declutter and Donate Before Spring Cleaning Our Homes This Year

    February 24, 2023 / 10 Comments

    Lest you think I’ve mastered decluttering in my own home, let me assure you… it’s an ongoing battle. I mostly write these things to hold myself accountable, but I’m stoked you’re coming along with me today. This of course is not a complete list of what could be decluttered before spring cleaning. It’s just a nudge to help you start. And clearly, to help me start again too since I found more things I could easily part with! So here are my eight things to declutter instead of cleaning around them. Spring cleaning can happen next month. First, let’s work on getting rid of these…. 1. Outdated Electronics From VHS…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    An Open Letter to My Kids – I Fired the Housekeeper

    May 28, 2016

    7 Clean Cleaning Songs + 7 Cool Cleaning Solutions

    January 23, 2018

    Because You Live Here, That’s Why: Kids and the Battle of Chores

    March 18, 2017
  • Organizing,  Recipes

    Leaves Turning 80: New Season, Old Skin, and an Organized Dental Office

    October 14, 2022 / 6 Comments

    My before-and-after title works better if you’re a Wheel of Fortune fan, I know. Lucky for me, my dad is a lifer.  I grew up with the sound of an audience clapping and the tick, tick, ticking wheel coming from my parents’ room… Every. Single. Week night. The memory sits permanently nestled in my hippocampus with no plans of vacating the premises.  Like, ever.  Faithful as a sunset, the 7:00 show always caused a tug in my soul. Do homework or solve a puzzle with my dad? I didn’t love the show, per se, but the before-and-after category always sucked me in. See what I’m doing here? Turning leaves, Vanna…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    Three Summer Vacation Hacks to be More Organized: How to Pack Smart, Move In, & Return Happy

    June 30, 2023

    I Decluttered and Broke Up With 500 Things. You Can Do It Too!

    April 29, 2017

    8 Simple Things We Can All Declutter and Donate Before Spring Cleaning Our Homes This Year

    February 24, 2023
  • Books,  Clutter,  Organizing,  Spring Cleaning

    Spring Decluttering with an Organizing Pro: 20 Items You Can Quickly Donate or Toss This Weekend

    May 13, 2022 / 14 Comments

    It’s no secret—I looove me some organized spaces. That doesn’t mean every square inch of my house is organized, but I’m working on it.  Disaster areas usually elevate stress and organized spaces usually usher in peace. But sometimes getting started is so overwhelming some people don’t even know where to begin.  Been there? After decluttering and organizing different spaces for years, a friend and I decided to turn our love for order into a business. What we’ve learned after being in our clients’ closets, kids’ rooms, pantries, garages, offices, laundry rooms, and linen closets could fill a book. But here are the top declutterable things we consistently see. You’re sitting…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    All I Want for Christmas This Year is a Book. And Star Wars Baby Yoda.

    December 12, 2020

    Father’s Day Gift Guide for the Young & Old: Cool, Trendy, & Fun Ideas Your Dads & Grandpas Will Love

    May 20, 2023

    A Unique Mother’s Day Gift Guide for all the Young Moms, Busy Ladies, and Older Women

    May 3, 2022
  • Clutter,  Organizing,  Spring Cleaning

    Creating an Organized New Year: The 3 Best Places in Your Home & How to Start

    January 7, 2022 / 22 Comments

    If you’re assuming this post is all about turning your whole house upside down and starting over, you can exhale now. This isn’t for the expert organizer, the detailed filer who never has a paper out of place, or the housekeeper who scrubs with a magnifying glass and Q-tips. And all the normal people said amen.  But… it is definitely not too early to think about spring cleaning. I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s wondered, Wow… it would be so much easier to clean around less stuff. Let’s back this train up though. First of all… Feliz Año Nuevo! I realize new beginnings aren’t everyone’s cup of chai, but…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    Spring Decluttering with an Organizing Pro: 20 Items You Can Quickly Donate or Toss This Weekend

    May 13, 2022

    I Decluttered and Broke Up With 500 Things. You Can Do It Too!

    April 29, 2017

    Quickly Saving Drowning Memories, One Wet Photo at a Time

    April 30, 2021
  • Clutter,  Humility,  Organizing,  Photos

    Quickly Saving Drowning Memories, One Wet Photo at a Time

    April 30, 2021 / 16 Comments

    Last November my teenagers bought me AirPods for my birthday. Spending so much of their own money to get me pieces of fancy technology made me feel loved. But I’m not a fancy girl. I have an old phone, our TV feels ridiculously large, I don’t own a watch (much less a smart one), and if it were up to me, Alexa would be kicked to the curb.  But I have a husband who loves that stuff and two teens who work and volunteer in tech. So of course they all want me to jump on the bandwagon, and AirPods were one way to get me there. On a sunny…

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    Carrie Talbott

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    Spring Decluttering with an Organizing Pro: 20 Items You Can Quickly Donate or Toss This Weekend

    May 13, 2022

    8 Simple Things We Can All Declutter and Donate Before Spring Cleaning Our Homes This Year

    February 24, 2023

    Fantastic Fall Fling: How to Get Rid of Excess Items Before the Holidays!

    October 13, 2023
  • Clutter,  Organizing,  Selling,  Spring Cleaning

    Goin’ to the Marketplace to OfferUp Stuff: Tips for Selling Good Junk Online

    June 13, 2020 / 8 Comments

    “How much for this?” “Ten dollars. It’s real silver.” “Will you take two?” Garage sale offers like this always made me want to blurt, “Two what? Two goats? Two crates of eggs? Two dozen avocados? No. I said ten. Not ten shillings, not ten pesos, ten dollars.” “How about five?” And ‘round and ‘round we’d go, politely arguing in English or Spanish until said shopper talked me down against my will because I was afraid I wouldn’t get another offer but then I got mad that I caved because I could’ve gotten more on eBay or at a pawn shop but I don’t have time for that because I have…

    Read More
    Carrie Talbott

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    I Decluttered and Broke Up With 500 Things. You Can Do It Too!

    April 29, 2017

    Spring Decluttering with an Organizing Pro: 20 Items You Can Quickly Donate or Toss This Weekend

    May 13, 2022

    Fantastic Fall Fling: How to Get Rid of Excess Items Before the Holidays!

    October 13, 2023
  • Clutter,  Missionary Secrets,  Missionary Shenanigans,  Organizing

    Donate This, Not That: Tips to Donate with Dignity

    January 12, 2019 / 20 Comments

    I know… I’ve had good intentions that went awry too. I’ve donated things I probably should’ve thrown in the trash. I felt guilty about the blatant waste though, so I passed it on for someone else to hopefully benefit from. Trouble is, if an item falls into that category, it’s probably going to end up costing the recipient more time than it’s worth.  I never truly understood this principle till I moved to a 3rd-world country. Pretty sure the ministries in Mexico get more donations from the U.S. than any other nation, but after living there for 12 years, I’m not confident the helpful handouts outweighed the inconvenient/annoying ones. For…

    Read More
    Carrie Talbott

    You May Also Like

    I Decluttered and Broke Up With 500 Things. You Can Do It Too!

    April 29, 2017

    Quickly Saving Drowning Memories, One Wet Photo at a Time

    April 30, 2021

    Fantastic Fall Fling: How to Get Rid of Excess Items Before the Holidays!

    October 13, 2023
12

Welcome!

You’re here! And I’m Carrie. From full-time camp kid to unconventional missionary for 12 años in a 3rd-world country, I’m now a profesh organizer and writer who loves plants and guac. Life is short, so I’m smiling while I have all my teeth, but I still have issues. Always remember… when life hands you lemons, give them back. You deserve avocados.

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